Generation Knife: Will Overuse End Up Ruining Young Athletes?

VICE Sports examines "Generation Knife" – an era of children that exist with the unmatched skills and rebuilt joints of seasoned pros – and what will happen when their surgically-repaired bodies age.

Overuse injuries have increased over the years, with the main cause being specialization. While young athletes used to play a variety of sports throughout the year, they often now focus on just one sport with high-intensity training (most commonly baseball, basketball and football).

Dr. James Kinderknecht, sports medicine surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery, offers insight into this issue and points to the early 90s as the dawning of the new age of the reconstructed athlete. He also addresses the increased risk of arthritis for Generation Knife.

"The problem with arthritis is, we don’t have a solution for it,” said Dr. Kinderknecht. "So it’s hugely disabling and it’s becoming more and more prevalent all the time. And a lot of these are from traumatic-type situations [as in a post-surgery joint]."